The Obama administration is backing an expansion of nuclear power plants, but have the lessons of Fukushima been learned? We speak to former nuclear industry executive Arne Gundersen on the fallout from Fukushima, the design failures of the Mark I nuclear reactor used at Fukushima and many U.S. power plants, the economics of nuclear energy and the battle over nuclear power in his home state of Vermont. Gundersen is a former nuclear industry...

Super Tuesday demonstrated the rancor rife in Republican ranks, as the four remaining major candidates slug it out to see how far to the right of President Barack Obama they can go. While attacking him for the high cost of gasoline, both sides are traveling down the same perilous road in their support of nuclear power.

The Republican presidential race appears headed for the long haul after the "Super Tuesday" slate of primaries failed to produce a decisive winner. Mitt Romney won six states, including what appears to be a slim victory over Rick Santorum in the main battleground state of Ohio. Santorum won three states, while Newt Gingrich won his home state of Georgia. Romney currently enjoys a sizable lead in delegates, with around one-third of...

The U.S. Senate has narrowly rejected an effort to vastly expand conscience exemptions in President Obama’s new birth control coverage rule that already allows exemptions for religiously affiliated institutions. The Blunt Amendment, sponsored by Republican Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri, would have let any U.S. employer deny contraceptive health coverage on religious or moral grounds, but it failed in a 51-48 vote largely along partisan...

As presidential hopeful Mitt Romney campaigns ahead of next week’s Super Tuesday primary vote, we look at the winners and losers under his proposed tax plan. Romney has vowed tax breaks for all Americans, but a recent analysis by the Tax Policy Center found his plan would mostly benefit the wealthy, while raising taxes on the poorest 125 million Americans.

"All the Republicans have the same basic strategy: reduce taxes on people who...

With Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio in the audience, leading Republican candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum praised Arizona’s crackdown on immigration during a debate on Wednesday night. Romney vowed to drop the Obama administration’s immigration lawsuits against the state of Arizona on the first day of his presidency. Santorum said police across the country should be given "the opportunity to do what they’re...

Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum repeatedly came under criticism at Wednesday’s debate over his voting record in Washington. We speak to Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Daily News, author of the recent article, "A Pennsylvanian’s Guide to the Rick Santorum You Don’t Know." "There’s basically two sides of Santorum," Bunch says. "One is the culture warrior side, and that’s the side we tend...

Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum has surged in the Republican presidential contest with wins in the Minnesota and Colorado caucuses, as well as a nonbinding primary in Missouri. Santorum’s win appears to have been fueled by evangelical voters, emboldening his claim to be the "true conservative" in the Republican race. The contests in Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri notably differed from earlier states in the absence...

After winning big in Florida, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney told CNN’s Soledad O’Brien who he wants to represent. “You could choose where to focus, you could focus on the rich, that’s not my focus. You could focus on the very poor, that’s not my focus. My focus is on middle-income Americans.” Of the very rich, Romney assures us, “They’re doing just fine.” With an estimated personal wealth of $250 million, Romney should know.

The nation’s leading breast cancer charity is under intense scrutiny for its decision to cut off funding for breast cancer screening programs run by Planned Parenthood. Susan G. Komen for the Cure has confirmed it is withdrawing support for 19 of Planned Parenthood’s 83 affiliates, citing a new policy barring funding for any groups under investigation by local, state or federal authorities. Planned Parenthood’s finances are...

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